Children and Chiropractic

What About That Bruise Or Bump

There are numerous physical stressors in the life of a child.  These stressors may be seen first in the last trimester of the pregnancy when the fetus is in a malposition causing in-utero constraint.  The infant in a breech position is 50% more likely to suffer a hip dislocation, mandibular asymmetry, and postural distortion.  The transverse lie increases the child’s chance of postural scoliosis, and the brow or facial position can lead to upper cervical, upper thoracic and lumbopelvic strain causing potential areas of subluxation.  All of these malpositions rarely resolve prior to birth and lead to C-sections.

In the U.S., birth trauma is estimated to be one of the top 10 causes of infant mortality.  Many in the developing field of sensory integration disorder management are stating that birth trauma is a major cause of the disorder.  In 2006, 31.1 % of U. S. births were by C-section, a dramatic 50% increase from the previous 10 years.  With the increased rate of C-sections, the rise in pregnancy associated deaths should be noted.

The first year of life is not without trauma, either.  Approximately 50% of all children have fallen head-first from a high place.  Furthermore, baby walkers contribute to 3000 annual injuries in children fewer than 15 months.  Here are some other staggering statistics:

More than 1 million children under the age of 5 visit hospital emergency rooms each year.

Almost 200,000 children are injured in car accidents and more than 1000 children die annually as a                                   result of those accidents.

Trampolines result in an estimated 88,000 visits to the emergency room each year, and playground     equipment accounts for another 200,000 visits.  

In the U.S. 3.5 million children under the age of 14 receive medical treatment for sports injuries each and every year.

Looking at repetitive stress syndrome it is very easy to see that it may start with parents incorrectly holding their infants or incorrectly changing a diaper without proper spinal support.  Infant bouncers and activity centers require youngsters to stand on joints that are unable to normally support their own weight.

Mastering walking is not easy.  The art of balancing on two feet will mean hundreds of falls during the first year or so of a child’s life, with the child often landing on their bottom.  This can cause repetitive micro trauma to the sacrum and other surrounding joints.

Children learning to walk are often seen with bruises on their brow from running into something low.  This hyperextension trauma may lead to cervical and upper thoracic subluxations.  As a child gets older, repetitive stress continues with the use of backpacks at early ages and the asymmetry it brings to the child during their developmental years.

This is why our office recommends that all children get checked early in life.

What is Wellness Chiropractic?

There are two different types of chiropractors that see patients-pain relief and wellness.  Pain relief chiropractors are focused solely on getting you pain and when that occurs they release you from care and you are on your way.  Wellness chiropractors are focused on getting to the root cause of your problem that is causing you pain or dis-ease. Lets look at the difference.

Pain relief chiropractors focus is on getting you out of pain.  They use a variety of tools outside of adjusting to get relief.  The care plan is directed towards getting you out of pain and once that has happened you are released from care with a call me when you need me.  Often the patient doesn’t know that the problem hasn’t fully been corrected and that over time the subluxation pattern will return back to its pain generating state. Then the patient has two choices:  go back to get adjusted or say that chiropractic doesn’t work.  Most people come in for pain relief don’t get me wrong.  Isn’t that what we have been brought up on take Tylenol for quick relief, no pain no problem, take aspirin for those normal headaches?  Who has normal headaches  I haven’t had any headaches for years!  But what if there was more to chiropractic?

Wellness chiropractic is what we focus on at Discover Life Chiropractic.  We have taken the approach that most patients don’t want to be on the revolving pain train;  get out of pain, go a few months, come back in pain, get adjusted, and repeat the cycle.   Wellness chiropractic is focused on detecting your problem that is causing your pain and directing our energy at fixing the problem.  This may involve chiropractic, exercise, massage, posture correction, referrals to other healthcare professionals, nutrition, and weight loss.  By using computerized technology we can image your nerve system and posture to look underneath the surface and see if chiropractic is the answer or one of the answers.  Then we can design a program of chiropractic care and ancillary services that are focused on correcting the cause of your problem.  Then our patients have tools outside the office to self manage their problem on a daily basis.  Wouldn’t you want to help yourself be healthy.  This is why we exercise, diet, manage our stress it helps us become healthier over time.   Our patients are more successful, happier and spend less time and money in my office. Check out our video testimonial page and You Tube videos.  Happy patients with life changing results.  This is why our office is named Discover Life Chiropractic.

No Pain No Problem

This week in practice the ideas of why do my adjustments not hold, why do I need to get checked, I feel fine I’ll come in next week came up so I thought that I would address them in this blog.

Why do my adjustments not hold?

With new to chiropractic patient’s it is a common finding during the first visit that patients pain started a few weeks ago but the problem started months or years ago(read a previous blog kids and chiropractic).  The majority of subluxations occur in childhood but don’t show up for years later.  By that I mean subluxations finally causing a symptom like neck pain, lower back pain, or are aggravated in a work injury or car accident.  Most people associate chiropractic taking care of spinal complaints and wait until they are in pain to seek care.  So after years of incorrect alignment, posture, and function it doesn’t make sense to say we can achieve correction in a week or two.  If you have had subluxations for 15 years how long do you think it will take to get back to or close to proper alignment?  Also most patients go back to the same lifestyle that created it and expect to stay in correction.  If  you truly want to stay in alignment as long as you can then you need daily posture exercises, stretching,massage,  proper nutrition, be in shape, and manage your stress.  My patients that do more of these things have better posture, scans and are adjusted the least in my office. 

Why do I need to get checked I feel fine?  I will wait until next week or month to get adjusted.

My staff hears this comment often.  When we call inactive patients this is the most common response to not wanting their free check-up.  The medical system is to blame for this idea.  Simply if you feel fine then you must be healthy.  If you have a symptom then take a drug, get rid of the symptom, stay on the drug for the rest of your life, be symptom free but ignore why the body is giving you a symptom.  SOMETHING IS WRONG!!  Your body gives you symptoms like high blood pressure, headaches, neck pain, and allergies because something is wrong.  If you treat the cause then you won’t have symptoms because you addressed the problem.  I just got research across my desk that if your spine isn’t adjusted at least every two weeks then permanent degenerative changes will occur(arthritis).  Since only 10% of the nerves in your body sense pain, and most pains occur after the disease or subluxation has been there for years why should I wait until you hurt to adjust you?  How many two-week cycles of degenerative changes have occurred in your body before you got adjusted or maybe you have never been adjusted.  BIG PICTURE  if the hard bone is decaying then what is happening to the soft nerve?  This is why we invested in Surface EMG and posture scans  so we can look at potential problems and fix them before you feel them. What  if C1-2 goes out of alignment, doesn’t irritate the nerve that causes pain at this level(headaches), but stresses your immune system, weakening it so you start to suffer from sinus problems and allergies3 or 4 years later.  What if it creates postural imbalances in the head and shoulders potentially leading to scoliosis or pain problems years in the future.  How long do you want to wait to get adjusted?  Until you finally get the pain pattern that nerve produces(headache) or when this cascade of poor health starts, within minutes of subluxating(going out of alignment).  This is my philosophy of health for me and my family adjustments once a week and medication as the last resort.  Its the best program I have see in practice and it helps me manage you care and health more effectively.    

Dr. David

Your Posture is Killing You

Most people have poor posture and just assume that it doesn’t impact them.  It is just something that happens and they will deal with it later.  They don’t know when it started and often think that exercise and stretching will fix it.  This blog will examine where posture comes from and how it’s impacting you.

One of the most common misconceptions about posture is that I can just sit straighter and it will go away.  Poor posture is a result of poor habits over a lifetime.  It starts when you are little and put in front of a t.v.  It continues in today’s society when you are sitting in front of a computer, texting, driving, sitting in chairs at work, at home etc.  Once you start to lean forward, flex your head in front of your shoulders, gravity takes over.  Now gravity is pulling you down and your postural muscles are struggling to counteract this.  Over a short period of time, in some cases weeks the nerve system learns that this is normal posture and starts to reinforce this pattern.  If nothing is done to counteract this posture then our nerve system stores this image as normal and then we battle it for the rest of our lives.  We try to sit straighter, work out, change our chairs, and still have poor posture.  Chiropractor’s and our office Discover Life Chiropractic are postural specialists.  We work with the nerve system to reprogram your nerve system back to its factory settings (head over the shoulders when viewed from the side, head over pelvis when viewed from the front).  With a combination of chiropractic adjustments and postural exercises we can retrain your nerve system back to proper posture.  Then we provide a support system called wellness care because you are going back to the lifestyle that created this so patients get periodic check ups to make sure they are staying at optimal posture alignment.   

Why is posture important?  Here are some stats from our posture class we teach.  You are 50% more likely to die sooner if you have a jutting head posture, the more height you lose in life the faster you die, if you lose 3cm then you increase your risk of dying 64% and heart attack risk 43%, you increase your risk of stroke, decrease your oxygen intake and since your brain uses 20% of your oxygen you negatively affect it, potentially leading to dementia etc.  At Discover Life Chiropractic we have patients in their 70′s regaining height, decreasing blood pressure, gaining mental clarity,  improving posture scans, and normalizing paraspinal muscle activity.  We continually monitor these tests to make sure you are maximizing your ability to live a longer more productive life.

Stress How can I live with it?

Stress  We all have it, live with it, ignore it, hope it will go away, or resign ourselves to it.  Society knows about it, my patients know about it but most everyone doesn’t know what to do about it.  Stress is defined as change either positive or negative.  So when we change our environment our ourselves it creates stress in our life.   There are positive stressors(eustress) or negative stressors(distress) in our lives.  Positive stressors make us better e.g. going to the gym to work out, taking a new position at work etc.  Then there are the negative stressors just read the paper and you know what I’m talking about.  These are the ones that create problems in our lives and diseases in our bodies.

In our office we break stress management categories into three types; physical, emotional, and chemical.  Physical is gravity, posture, birthing, injuries, slips and falls, etc.  Chemical is food we eat, things we drink, drugs we take, exposure to cell phone radiation, electromagnetic radiation and household chemicals.  Emotional stress is everything you think about that isn’t working for you  job, mortgage, relationships, academics, athletics, etc.  There is an old saying that what you think about you bring about.  Dwell on the negative and that’s what keeps coming into your life.  Read the book THE SECRET if you want more on this idea.  The reality is we are always going to have stress so what can we do.  This is where chiropractic steps in.  Your nerve system is the system that determines stress and the appropriate response.  Think about your favorite food. Can you see it, already start to taste it.  Your nerve system has this memory and already salivary glands are producing saliva, digestive system changes are happening all because your nerve system took an idea and triggered an action.  When you work out your blood pressure should go up and when your done it should go down.  This is if your nerve system is functioning at 100%.  But what if you have a misaligned vertebrae(subluxation) to the nerve that goes to your heart.  Now when you work out your blood pressure goes up and then stays up because your body can’t receive the signal that tells your blood pressure to go down.  Then you live like this for a decade or two( since most kids are subluxated by 2-3 years old).  Then you go to the doctor, get diagnosed with high blood pressure, take medication, and live with it for the rest of your life, dealing with the secondary effects of a body that’s overstressed.  (Here’s a question to think about- Is blood pressure an effect of stress or a cause. If its an effect then isn’t it better to treat the cause?)  Subluxations blocked the normal response so then the body just responded to the info that it had.  IF the subluxation was removed in this scenario then the blood pressure drops and the patient live medication free.  This type of incorrect response to stress occurs hourly in subluxated people who comprise over 85% of the population.  My job as a chiropractor is to remove the subluxation and allow the body to correctly adapt to the daily stress you put your body through.  Your job is to minimize the stress your expose yourself to and have systems in place-adjustments, exercise, massage, acupuncture, to help de-stress yourself.

Dr. David Hendrickson

How Big Do You Want To Go?

Interesting thought.  This week during patient care this theme came up frequently.  When patients asked me what else they could be doing to help themselves stay in correction longer this idea came up.  How much are you willing to invest, change, do, and analyze?   All of my clients get adjusted.  Most of my successful clients get adjusted on a scheduled time whether it is weekly or biweekly.  This allows me to manage their care and see how their body is dealing with stress and give them tips based on my analysis and 20 years in practice.  More successful patients also do posture correction exercises at home and change negative lifestyle habits.  Other clients work out regularly, change their diet, add in yoga, get massage on a scheduled basis. My least successful clients are the ones that come in infrequently, still expect the same adjustment results even though the problem has gotten worse, think that just because they woke up with pain yesterday it should go away with one visit.  They are relying on other people to get them healthy and not themselves.  Then if it doesn’t work it’s someone else’s fault not theirs.

Really how big you want to play is up to you.  Everyone has the time to get adjusted, receive massage, go to the gym 3-5 times weekly but we all are guilty of one thing…procrastination!!  It’s easy to buy the ticket that medicine is selling, don’t worry about your lifestyle we’ll fix you with a miracle drug or surgery and you can eat, drink, and smoke what you want.  It’s easy sit at home and watch tv, eat high carb foods and feel happy.  We all know where this train is going to derail … poor health.  If you want to receive the best results in chiropractic and other health care professions then take care of yourself NOW.  If you want to spend the least amount in healthcare then do the things that will keep you out of the system. Our office has been successful for years in changing their life.  In fact a patient just the other day said she came in for back issues and was giving me 6 months to fix it, we did and now 6 1/2 years later she enjoys the benefits of regular chiropractic care as part of her health lifestyle.  Just imagine a nation of healthy people instead of a nation with a health care crisis!

Kids and Chiropractic

Many patients that see kids in the office wonder what back problems they are being treated for.  The reality is that these kids parents understand that subluxations occur at early ages and limit their kids potential.  Yes, chiropractic is beneficial for the children that have ear infections, colic, chronic illness and other maladies.  Most parents understand the benefits of chiropractic care and want the best for their kids.  If the child’s innate intelligence is limited by subluxation then how can they really be living their life at full potential?  How many falls have your kids had?  Do they have proper posture, carry a backpack that only weighs 15% of their bodyweight, sit correctly in school, while texting, during dinner?  All of these activities have consequences good or bad depending on how your innate adapts to the stresses. (See upcoming blogs about posture)  So how healthy are your children?  Most commonly parents answer they don’t have any symptoms so they must be healthy.  Most people don’t realize that pain is the last indicator of health.  One of the best indicators of health is posture.  Posture is reflective of your nerve systems ability to adapt to its environment. If it’s crooked then your nerve system is stressed incorrectly and as a result sending the wrong test message to the body.  Surface EMG is another great indicator of analyzing the electrical communication and seeing if there are any blocks(subluxations).  If your children have had slips and falls, improper posture, and haven’t had a chiropractic analysis then it’s time.  After all aren’t you responsible for your childs health?